​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​About the races

​Williams BMW Rochdale​​​ Half Marathon, 10K and 1-mile Fun Run returns for its 5th year on Sunday, 6 October 2019​. It’s one of the highlights of our sporting calendar and has already helped raise tens of thousands for local and national charities.

Whichever run you ch​oose, you'll be starting and finishing at the stunning Rochdale Town Hall, one of the finest buildings in Europe.

Our traffic-free courses retain an exciting and varied feel, taking you on a tour of our historic town and breath-taking countryside.

All courses will be fully marshalled, signed and have water stations at regular intervals. All runs will be chip timed. There'll be a medal and technical t-shirt for completing the half marathon and 10K. Fun Run entrants receive a medal.

See our routes on video

Take a look at our half marathon and 10K routes on video and check out some of the sights you'll see whilst running (2mins 22secs).

Your race number

You can pick up your race number on Saturday, 5 October 2019 from Rochdale Town Hall between 9am and 2pm, or on the morning of the event between 8am and 9.30am.

Enter the races as an individual or a team

Online entries are open for the half marathon, 10K and fun run until 12midnight on Sunday, 29 September 2019.

​​​​​​Corporate entries​

Our corporate package enables ​​a company to pay for and administer entries for their staff. For every 10 entries you'll also get a FREE place. Running alongside your workmates can be a lot of fun and this is a great way to inspire a workplace, set a challenge and motivate employees to be active and take part in this great event. If you're a business wanting to take part in any of the events, email
events@rochdale.gov.uk​​.

Elite runners​​

​We're happy to offer FREE entry to athletes who achieved, and can prove, the following times in 2018.

Marathon: under 2 hours 35 minutes for men and under 2 hours 55 minutes for women.

Half Marathon: under 1 hour 12 minutes for men and under 1 hour 23 minutes for women.

Please note​​

There'll be a cut-off time of 3 hours for completion from the start of the half marathon.​ ​​​

For your own safety, the safety of other runners and members of the public, the wearing of head or earphones or similar device is not permitted in this event. Automatic disqualification from race results may follow for any competitors ignoring this instruction.

​​Raise money for charity

Our official charity for 2019 is Springhill Hospice. The Rochdale-based charity provides care for people with life-limiting illnesses and in 2018 the event helped to raise over £12,500 for the hospice.

You're welcome to raise money for any other charity or cause of your choice and you can easily set up a web page to collect your donations through websites including​
JustGiv​​​ingG​​oFundMe or
GoGetFunding

Prize fund

The total prize fund this year is over £3,000, the highest in our history, with voucher prizes for the first 5 men and first 5 women in the half marathon and 10K, plus 8 age category prizes for both races.

Further details on the 2019 prizes will appear here soon.

Stay up-to-date through social media

Half Marathon - route and entry criteria

​The half marathon leaves the town hall along the Esplanade and runs the edge of Broadfield Park, before heading through Deeplish to the Rochdale Canal at Oldham Road Basin. The route then heads past Kingsway Business Park and Smithy Bridge along the canal. Close to the Waterside Restaurant the route leaves the tow path and heads up Hollingworth Road towards Hollingworth Lake, making a clockwise loop of the lake. It then returns down Hollingworth Road and back on to the canal.

The race retraces its outward route from the town hall until it reaches Broadfield Park, where runners will go through the park before re-joining the Esplanade for the final sprint to the finish line.​​​

10K - route and entry criteria

​​​The 10K follows the same route as the half marathon on to the canal, but leaves the canal at the swing bridge at Kingsway Business Park, making a loop of pleasant cycleways, before returning to the canal and the same finishing route as the half marathon.

Fun Run - route and entry criteria

​​The 1-mile route sets out from Rochdale Town Hall and up into the beautiful Broadfield Park, taking a very scenic route around the award winning historic grounds. There's a steep challenging climb up past the John Bright statue before entering the park. While the rest of the course climbs gradually, once you reach the bandstand it’s all downhill to The Esplanade for the return to the finish line at the town hall.

Read what others had to say

"Fantastic. Course was great and lovely to get into the countryside. Everyone was very friendly and brilliantly organised so not too much hanging around".

"Brilliant event, well organised and lovely route".

"Well organised, nice scenic course. Fantastic marshals".

"Well organised event and priced appropriately".

"Really enjoyed it - beautiful route, really well organised, lots of helpful information beforehand, great atmosphere on the day".

"Excellent. Well organised. Scenic route. Fantastic volunteers, especially at the water breaks".

"I thoroughly enjoyed the half marathon. My first for 20 years. Organisation was good. Car parking, bag drop and marshalling was excellent. Time keeping was spot on".

"I enjoyed completing my local 10K. To date it has been my favourite 10K. I thought the atmosphere was great starting after hearing the chimes from the town hall. The route was scenic unlike Salford 10K and We Love Manchester 10K. I will be running it again next year. The bag drop and picking up your numbers was very well managed, basically I loved the event".

"I thought the event was extremely well organised with lots of helpful and friendly marshalls along the route. Although the start and first half mile was fairly narrow and cramped, the course then opened up and was really good. I enjoyed running along the canal and around Hollingworth Lake. A much improved route than 2015 when I last ran Rochdale and I hope the course stays the same for next year".

"Can't wait for the next one. The event showcased Rochdale, my town, I loved it. Organisation and Marshalls were excellent. Atmosphere was great especially with the long open run to the finish in front of the Town Hall. Race start and finish banners and time displays looked professional. Great to have prestigious brand BMW as sponsors, with their stand showcasing their cars. T shirt great. Rochdale AFC involved the kids with their penalty shoot out. Area in front of town hall looked great. Sports physios looked to be very popular. Dave Sweetmore provided great music".

"Very well organised. The fun run event was fantastic for the kids and very good value for money".

"Well organised, support around the HM course was encouraging, nice touch to include young children handing to hand out water. Lots of volunteers helping out. Parking in the collage was a big plus. Free photos of the event to share is nice. Daughters have asked can they take part again next year".

Temporary road closures

For safety reasons, some road closures will be in place on Sunday, 6 October 2019 between 10am and 2pm. Motorists are advised to make alternative arrangements in advance if they need to exit any of the closed areas by car on the day. Plans will be put in place for access by the emergency services.